To blog or not to blog
Entrepreneurs find many benefits in personalizing their online presence.(By Traci Bisson, as seen in NH Mirror, August 2008)”Does a blog have something to do with a computer?”
Even though the concept of blogs and blogging has been around for nearly 10 years, small business owners still ask this question. Many entrepreneurs are unaware of what blogs are and how their businesses can benefit from this versatile marketing tool.
Blogs can provide commentary or news on a particular subject, while others function more as a personal online diary with which readers can interact by posting comments. Bloggers, the people who write and maintain blogs, have the responsibility to deliver valuable content on subjects of interest to their target markets and, much like a magazine or a newspaper, readers can subscribe to blogs via feed readers or e-mail.
People blog for many reasons. Some blog to “have a voice,” while others blog to invite comments and discussions from readers. Many blog to build a large community of readers, which allows them to solicit advertisers and sponsors and make money with their blog.
Many entrepreneurs choose blogging as a way to interact with readers who might have questions about a company and its products or services. Whatever your reason is, blogging in today’s fast-paced world allows you to hang on to the coattails of the ever-changing technology industry.
Ready to start your blog?
Follow these eight simple steps:- Choose a blogging service. Blogger.com is a great place to start. The service is free and easy to use. Once you decide you enjoy blogging, the blog can be upgraded and migrated to a traditional hosting service.
- Choose a name for your blog. The name should have meaning to your target market (i.e. “name of your company”.blogspot.com).
- Write a description. What is your blog about? Write a brief description so readers will understand your blog’s mission.
- Offer a complete profile. In the bio section of Blogger, create a complete profile for yourself so readers can get to know you.
- Syndicate your blog. Use a program such as FeedBurner to syndicate your content so readers can easily subscribe via a feed reader or e-mail.
- Post content. Begin posting information to your blog that your target market will find interesting and valuable. Be diligent and post once a week at a minimum.
- Notify your network. To begin building your community of readers, e-mail everyone in your network about your new blog and ask them to subscribe as well as spread the word.
- Experiment. This is the fun part. Add widgets to your blog to add interest and generate revenue. If you see a widget on a blog that you like, you can grab it by simply clicking on it.
Labels: blogging, blogs, creating a blog, social marketing
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How I use Twitter for business
As promised, I said I would offer some tips on how I use
Twitter for business. I am addicted to Twitter and love the concept of micro-blogging (saying something in 140 characters or less). It really helps me refine what I do as a publicist.
I have been using
Twitter regularly for
Bisson Barcelona, but recently I started a new endeavor -
www.themomentrepreneur.blogspot.com/. I have been twittering for this company as well.
Here are some of the ways I use
Twitter for business:
- I have live Twitter feeds running in each of our blogs and on my MySpace and Facebook pages in order to have more fresh content.
- I use Twitter for following and monitoring the media in the hopes of picking up some inside info that the general public would not be privy to.
- I am trying to build my community of followers by searching for specific niches of people, following people I am interested in and then waiting to see how many follow me. I have found this method works better then a spray and pray method of following thousands of people and ¼ of them may end up following me. I think there is something to be said for Twitterers who have more people following them then they are following or if the numbers are relatively close.
- In regards to http://www.themomentrepreneur.blogspot.com/, I recently posted a query about mom entrepreneurs balancing work and home through news channels and on Twitter. I received 400 responses in 48 hours.
If you are interested, you can follow me at www.twitter.com/tracibisson.
Labels: public relations, publicity, social media, social networking, Twitter, twittering
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Starting off on the right foot with the media leads to long-term relationships and exposure
Creating top-of-mind, long-term media awareness is all about relationships. And, as we all know, any good relationship is built on trust.
When you start thinking about reaching out to the media with your story, product or opinion, the first thing you should do is think about your target audience and what media is feeding those people their information. Watch their shows, read their articles, blogs and columns, and tune into their radio stations. The more homework you do, the more time you will save yourself down the road, and the fewer bridges you will burn in the end.
If you want the media to recognize you as a legit source for their stories, you have to approach them in a responsible way. Buying a media list or compiling names and e-mail addresses from online databases is not the proper way to do this. More often than not, this information is outdated and incorrect. In the industry we call it the "spray and pray" method; it often results in a lot of bounce backs and notes from angry reporters telling you to never contact them again.
These lists, however, can be a good start and may help you locate publications or shows you never knew existed. It's what you do with these lists once you have them that makes all the difference. Read through the lists carefully, visit Web sites and bios, and if you plan on contacting a member of the media on that list, make sure they will care about what you have to say before you click "send." If you don't, you are risking your success with that publication and the chance to be blacklisted on one of the many
PR spammer blogs out there.
If you are not sure who should be on the receiving end of your pitch or if your topic will be of interest to a specific reporter, pick up the phone and call them or drop them an e-mail. Reporters, although they will likely try to get you off the phone as quickly as possible, are much happier to set you straight than receive the 100
th off-topic pitch of the day. They respect the fact that you took the time to ask questions and, if they are not on deadline and can give you a few minutes, may even request more information while they have you on the phone.
When you are ready to make your pitch via e-mail, be sure to provide thoughtful, detailed information and links that the media can visit to learn more. Keep your communication as brief as possible, but give the reporter enough information to pique their interest. Weave in some details that will show the reporter you are familiar with his or her "beat" (the topic or issues they tend to address), show or column. "I'm an expert on this topic - call me" will not suffice. Your e-mail address will be blocked and you will never hear from this reporter. They will laugh at you, share your note with their colleagues and post it to "The Wall of Shame" in the break room. It's true.
When they first start dealing with the media, many experts and sources struggle with keeping their egos in check. You are a CEO, you have a doctorate and you've written a book, and the media should be clamouring at your door. Not true. The truth of the matter is that you are just another expert in a sea of sources, so you have to make yourself stand out from the crowd. Focus on what makes you different and remember, the media was not put on this earth to make you famous — YOU are here to help THEM.
By reaching out to the right members of the media, providing them with insightful, fresh information and treating them with respect, you can create a trusting relationship for years to come. The media will start calling you when they are working on a story that fits your expertise, they will share your name with their colleagues and your efforts will soon become reactive.
Labels: authors, entrepreneurs, expertise, media interviews, public relations, working with the media
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The Art of Twittering
I recently read a great post in Joan Stewart's
The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week about how to use Twitter for business. I thought I would reprint in its entirety since I found it very useful. I have already sent in my tips and they may appear in her next newsletter. If not, I will share them here.
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How do You Twitter for Business?
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I'm in love with Twitter, the free social networking and microblogging service that lets you send updates as often as you wish to whoever is following you at
http://www.twitter.com/.
Each update, limited to only 140 characters of type, can include information on whatever you're doing on a particular day. Although I occasionally include personal updates, I try to concentrate on writing about solutions I've found to business problems, products I'm creating, and things I'm learning.
Lots of Twitterers are still experimenting with how to use Twitter for business purposes. I've been collecting the best examples and compiling them into a special report which should be ready in a few weeks.
I want to include as many Hounds as possible in the report. If you Twitter for business, let me know what you discuss--and the results. Has Twitter helped you build a following for a niche product or service? Or helped you collect email addresses? Or brought readers to your blog? Or simply given you a chance to show more of your personality to followers who eventually might do business with you?
I've seen some clever business uses for Twitter. For example, I blogged about how Publicity Hound Harry Hoover has compiled a big list of journalists who Twitter and turned it into a wiki for PR people. You can read more about that at
http://publicityhound.net/twitterwiki.
Even Business Week reporter Stephan Baker is writing about Twitter via a series of tweets, which he started this afternoon. His article will discuss the growth of Twitter and whether those of us who are wild about it right now will still be using it in a year or two. You can follow the story at
http://summize.com/search?q=%23bwstory.
Now, it's your turn. Tell me how you use Twitter for business. If I use your example, you'll get a copy of the special report gratis. Email your response to
JStewart@PublicityHound.com, in the subject line put "How I Use Twitter"
You can follow Joan Stewart on Twitter at:
www.twitter.com/publicityhound or Traci Bisson at
www.twitter.com/tracibisson.
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Reprinted from "The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week," an ezine featuring tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity. Subscribe at
http://www.publicityhound.com/ and receive by email the handy list "89 Reasons to Send a News Release."
Labels: microblogging, social networking, The Publicity Hound, Twitter
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How to measure ROI for PR
In a recent Publicist Panel (
listen to the podcast) we hosted, with three very talented publicists, one of the questions asked of our panelists was "what are some metrics that can be used to apply a value to PR that is received?"
As our panelists explained, PR is very intangible, which means it can be difficult to measure.
Authors and
entrepreneurs commit to PR in order to create awareness and increase their personal brand recognition with target markets. So how do you measure PR ROI?
Top-of-mind awareness (TOMA) is one way of measuring how well your name and brand ranks in the minds of your target markets. How well do your target markets recognize your brand? A measure of how often your name, book title, product, service or company name is searched online can give you a sense if you are gaining TOMA.
Try this simple, fun experiment. Visit
Google Fight (not affiliated with Google) and enter two different search terms. This website will give you a reading of each terms popularity by giving a number for how many times the term has been searched. For instance, I like to use the name of my company,
Bisson Barcelona, with one of my competitor's company's names. Occasionally I will use my name,
Traci Bisson and my company name to get a sense of what brand is searched for more. My name is searched over 70,000 times more then my company name. Try this exercise prior to your PR campaign and then again at six and 12 month intervals. This is one of many tangible measures of a PR campaign.
Labels: brand awareness, brand recognition, PR, public relations, publicity, return on investment, ROI, top-of-mind awareness
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What is the role of a publicist?
We recently hosted a Publicist Panel
teleseminar that was attended by over 50 people. Our panel included
Erin Saxton of
The Idea Network,
Kate Bandos of
KSB Promotions and
Marci Hait of
Bisson Barcelona.
We received some great questions from listeners prior to the call. Most of them we were able to ask our panelists. The questions we did not get to we thought we would blog about. So over the next few weeks, you will see posts related to questions from the
teleseminar.
In addition, the
teleseminar was recorded and made into a
podcast for our
podcast library. This can be downloaded for free. Downloading takes about five minutes depending on your connection.
Labels: job of a publicist, podcasts, publicists, teleseminars, what is a publicist
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